Whether by virtue of good food, great genetics or some combination of the two, a moose in Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains is turning heads with its super-sized proportions.
While the young bull’s antlers aren’t exceptionally large, at least not yet, his body is freakishly huge.
And that’s made all the more amazing by the fact that Wyoming’s moose are Shiras moose, the smallest of four North American subspecies, Danielle Laumann of Sheridan told Cowboy State daily.
But smallest subspecies or not, this moose is a tank and likely to keep growing.
A series of photos Laumann took of the big boy wading through a river in northern Wyoming have been getting a lot of reaction from people who can’t believe how large this young bull has gotten.
‘I Could See Just How Massive He Is’
The monster moose has been palling around with a couple of other bulls near the Prune Creek campground on the South Fork of the Tongue River, said Laumann, who first spotted the moose trio in June.
“You can usually find them munching away on willows and leaves first thing in the morning near there,” she said.
Seeing a trio of bulls in and of itself isn’t unusual. Young bull moose, just bulls and bucks of other species, will frequently form bachelor groups and hang out together during the spring and summer.
But then one day, the bulls decided to cross a creek single file, and she got a clear view of the huge one.
“They were are all grazing when they decided to cross the creek in succession of each other. It wasn’t until the last guy got in the water that I could see just how massive he is,” Laumann said.
His body looks all the bigger in proportion to his antlers, she added. The main structures on moose antlers are commonly referred to as paddles.
“His paddles are pretty small in comparison to his body size, but hopefully will catch up in proportion. They can grow up to an inch a day,” said Laumann, an avid outdoorswoman and wildlife observer. “I have seen plenty of moose with bigger antlers but have never seen one with such a massive body.”
Wyoming wildlife photographer Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven has observed moose in the Grand Teton area for many years. He agreed that the sheer body size of this particular moose is something to behold.
“That’s a massive body,” he told Cowboy State Daily after viewing a photo of the tank from the Bighorns.
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
This trio of young bull moose has been hanging out along the South Fork of the Tongue River in the Bighorn Mountains. The third one, on the right, is built like a tank. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann) 
The antlers on this bull moose in the Bighorn Mountains still have some growing to do, but his body is already super-sized. (Courtesy of Danielle Laumann)
‘Eat, Bed Down, Eat, Repeat’
Vangoidtsenhoven and Laumann couldn’t guess whether genetics play any part in the size of the tank moose relative to others that they’ve seen.
It’s not unusual for moose to get chunky this time of year, Vangoidtsenhoven said.
“Bull moose don't do much else these days than eat, bed down, eat, repeat,” he said.
“Around this time is when they'll shed the velvet (on their antlers) and start the rut, and start focusing more on the cows than on eating,” he added. “That being said, that moose’s body looks huge.”
Although it’s been somewhat dry in the Bighorns this year, the forage still seems decent, Laumann said. Moose can gobble down up to 50 pounds of food per day.
That leaves cow moose weighing in at 800-1,300 pounds, and bulls typically at 1,200-1,600 pounds, she said. And there’s no telling how far the super-sized bull would tip the scales.
Keep Your Distance
Laumann added that the huge moose and his pals have so far been “unperturbed by my constant photography of them.”
But with the rut, or mating season, set to start at any time, the bulls will start getting territorial and cranky, so she plans on keeping her distance.
Vangoidtsenhoven agreed that moose aren’t to be trifled with, particularly when bulls are rutting
Protective female moose with calves can be even worse, he said. He previously told Cowboy State Daily about being chased up a tree by an irate momma moose.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
